VIRTUAL MATH LAB LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will address the need for high quality, innovative educational software that will enable elementary school children to learn effectively about mathematical principles - through active experimentation and manipulation - at a low cost. The major objectives of this effort are to demonstrate the technical feasibility of the development of such educational mathematics software and to test the relative effectiveness of such software against conventional classroom "math lab" materials. As such, the research in this Phase will be devoted to developing a set of representative mathematical activities for the computer, and then to measuring student learning and motivation using these computer-based materials on the one hand, or traditional materials, on the other. It is expected that the effort will yield promising approaches for the design of commercially- viable educational software products for the teaching of mathematics. Further, it is expected that the design techniques and process employed in this project can potentially be leveraged for the design and development of educational software products for other domains as wells. $ = TOTAL AWARD AMTS & NOT LIMITED TO PORTION OF PROJECT RELATED TO SUBJECT OF SEARCH SUBPROJECT $ = TOTAL AWARD AMOUNT DIVIDED BY NUMBER OF SUBPROJECTS SOURCE: CRISP FORMAT F FY 97 LAST UPDATE 04-07-98 1QUERY 1536 ID SEARCH 06/01/98 PAGE 373 --PROJECT NUMBER......1 R43 HD34996-01 INVESTIGATOR NAME/ADDRESS FY 97 FANG, ZI-PING IRG/INTRAMURAL UNIT..ZRG4 NEUROCONTROL CORP AWARD AMOUNT......... $98,708 1945 EAST 97TH STREET CLEVELAND, OH 44106 PERFORMING ORGANIZATION: NEUROCONTROL CORPORATION TITLE STIMULATOR TO PREVENT POSTSTROKE SHOULDER SUBLUXATION ABSTRACT: DESCRIPTION: (from the project Abstract) Shoulder pain is a common complication of hemiplegia occurring in 70-84% of stroke patients with a paralyzed upper extremity. A painful shoulder frequently results in decreased functional independence and poor motor recovery. Inferior subluxation of the glenohumeral joint is the major cause for the poststroke shoulder pain. Conventional intervention using slings often causes complications from immobilization. Recently, electrical stimulation of the shoulder muscles has been shown effective in reducing or preventing poststroke subluxation by a few pilot studies. Existing surface stimulation systems, however, can not be widely accepted because of poor muscle selectivity, accompanying pain and difficulty in daily application of the electrodes. We propose to use a percutaneous intramuscular stimulation approach to make the stimulation more effective, less painful and easier for daily use for several months. A miniature, programmable, multi-channel stimulator will be developed to drive a set of fine wire electrodes chronically indwelled inside the muscle belly. These electrodes are to be implemented by a hypodermic needle and can be easily withdrawn at the end of use. Preliminary clinical tests will be conducted to establish implantation procedure, stimulation protocol, and evaluation methodology. Feasibility of the project shall be determined by prototype device performance and initial medical outcomes. $ = TOTAL AWARD AMTS & NOT LIMITED TO PORTION OF PROJECT RELATED TO SUBJECT OF SEARCH SUBPROJECT $ = TOTAL AWARD AMOUNT DIVIDED BY NUMBER OF SUBPROJECTS SOURCE: CRISP FORMAT F FY 97 LAST UPDATE 04-07-98 1QUERY 1536 ID SEARCH 06/01/98 PAGE 374 --PROJECT NUMBER......1 R43 HD35010-01A1 INVESTIGATOR NAME/ADDRESS FY 97 MUNNE, SANTIAGO IRG/INTRAMURAL UNIT..ZRG2 ART INST OF NY & NJ AWARD AMOUNT......... $99,992 101 OLD SHORT HILLS ROAD WEST ORANGE, NJ 07052 PERFORMING ORGANIZATION: ART INSTITUTE OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY TITLE SCREENING OF ANEUPLOIDY IN HUMAN OOCYTES ABSTRACT: A high proportion of human embryos obtained through IVF from women 35 and older are aneuploid, in part explaining the decrease in implantation with maternal age. This project will develop an efficient and safe method to screen oocytes for all aneuploidies. Its clinical application should result in an increase in pregnancy rates after IVF and a reduction in aneuploid conceptions. Polar bodies, non-essential for embryo development, will be biopsied from each oocyte and analyzed by multicolor FISH. Research material will be polar bodies from unfertilized or in-vitro matured M-I oocytes. Because chromatin degenerates rapidly in polar bodies, a biopsy method will be developed to provide reliable cytogenetic information with low risk of damaging oocytes or zygotes. Different temperature and humidity conditions as well as fixative solutions will be assessed to optimize polar body fixation. Initially, only those chromosomes most responsible for oocyte aneuploidy will be assessed. These will be determined by studying a sizable number of oocytes. In a phase Il SBIR proposal, all chromosomes will be assessed by using combinations of 5 or more fluorochromes and resolution through image analysis.